Pepper Design Blog

The Dining Room: Then, Now & On Its Way!

As a guest, there’s something about the first couple of rooms that you walk into in a home that sort of sets the stage for the rest of the house. Kind of like that first impression that you’re so conscious of when meeting someone for the first time. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that we always have one or two rooms/spaces that are under construction. I’m talking open walls, ceilings, floors… the works. So when it comes to rooms that we don’t plan on touching with a sledge hammer and nail gun, I really enjoy making these the ‘first impression’ areas (then as a guest you can walk right into the mess, but at least at first glance all seemed well!)

Our dining room is one such room. It greets new visitors with its rounded walls and inset Spanish ceiling, and it’s hard to miss when you pass our living room (the two are connected with a large arched walkway). It is the gateway to the rest of the house, and the first impression that I’m going for is a warm ‘welcome to my cozy dining area, friend! Let’s share a yummy meal and a glass of wine’. Wouldn’t you love for a room to ask you that?

The dining room is on its way… but it’s not there yet. Not by a long shot. Let’s start by taking a few steps backwards with a quick look at the last couple of years.

This is the before, before shot – before we even moved in. It offers a clear view of the original chandelier and how the arch between the dining room and living room helps to integrate the two rooms. In this photo you’d be standing in the door that connects the office/guestroom to the dining room.

This ‘in-progress’ is from an interview with 6th Street Design School on favorite spaces – at the time the dining room was my home office while we demoed the old kitchen and slowly restored the Spanish plaster and ceilings for the new office.

Believe it or not this photo is probably one of the only few I have with the space looking as it did above, and this is the way the room stayed for several years.

A few more details from that interview:

Sorry about the terrible exposure in these photos – it was also early in my photography days.

Can you see the old kitchen peeking out back there? And that second extra door that led to the old hallway? All gone now!

Shift to this year and the rug is now gone (the Pottery Barn rug was a Craigslist find and had lived a good life – but too many permanent stains with us and we let her go just recently in favor of something a little more modern), as well as that original home light fixture (I hope to reuse it in another space someday). The new pendant can be found right here. That beautiful mirrored lamp broke last summer and a clear glass Ikea version has taken its place. Still love that black shade.

Here’s a look into the new blank slate from the living room.

We’re starting from close to scratch in here and it’s clearly in need of a little oomph, you know?

I have a few rug ideas that have just shown up on the doorstep! And a new wall collage solution to share soon. This room also needs new curtains as well as a new feature piece over on the right where that door is now closed up and a large wall sits empty.

The favorite piece in this room that won’t be going anywhere is this vintage blue credenza that we spotted at an antique store the week we moved into our home – and my parents-in-law surprised us with as a housewarming gift! It’s more of a teal/turquoise-y blue and it’s so awesome. Definitely commands attention and a piece that the rest of the room will revolve around color-wise.

On the other side of the room is my set of Crate & Barrel leaning bookcases (found on Craigslist) that fill in either side of the archway back to the living room. I shared these guys in this post on my favorite bookshelf styling ideas, but I’m ready for these to be re-oomphed too (same with the other set of bookshelves featured in that post!).

There are two really tricky, permanent details about the room that are difficult to decorate around.

The first is both a favorite feature and a frustrating architectural detail – these high, rounded walls and inset ceilings are common with Spanish architecture but they make painting a room difficult because A. the ceiling has to be the same color as the walls or B. you have to have some sort of chair rail/picture rail to cut off one from the other.

The second is the door to the office/guestroom on the left there that throws the room a bit off center. It’s definitely a convenient in & out (otherwise you’re walking around to the kitchen) but it means that the buffet is now two feet off from the center of the room, so the table, rug, pendant light all line up with that inset ceiling, but nothing else. The only solution I can think of to fix this (without plastering over the door) is to find a shorter buffet that can line up on center with a larger object (standing mirror?) on the right side to balance out the door. But I love my blue one too much. Argh.

Well there’s our blank slate! It’s getting a heavy dose of makeover (most of the projects are underway) and I’ll keep you all updated on the progress.

Meanwhile… Kevin has been busy drawing up plans for a new back and side yard and right now we’re thinking decks, pergolas, fountains, flagstone pathways, a giant farm-style table with lots of fun chairs… it should be a great summer project!

Easy Vase Terrariums

I’ve been so inspired lately with all of the decorating ideas on bringing the outdoors in. One trend that has especially caught my eye is the glass vase terrariums that we’re seeing on dining room tables, in kitchens and even in outdoor spaces.

I was rummaging through my buffet recently, attempting to reorganize, clean it out and cut down on what I no longer use, when I came across a few vases and vase fillers that I thought would be perfect for a couple of indoor terrariums for our dining room. In fact, I didn’t buy a single thing for this project – everything was either from under the buffet (where lots of vases live), in my craft bin, from around the house or from the garage.

Here’s what I managed to find to put these guys together:

*A large clear vase (you could also use a fish bowl or punch bowl)
*Several smaller, shorter vases for holding the potted plants (I used votive holders)
*River rock (this can be purchased in mass at a home improvement store in the gardening section, just hose off those dirty river rocks and you should find beautiful black ones! these are left over from my wedding as vase fillers, believe it or not)
*Dried Spanish moss (also from my vase filler collection – can br purchased at any craft store)
*Dried or live green moss (mine came from the craft store as well, also left over from a wedding)
*Succulents for planting (from Ikea and our yard)

First up was to replant my little succulents in the votives with a little potting soil and a little water.

There are actually three little votive candle holders in the bigger vase above, though it’s hard to see that last one.

Then I filled in rocks around the votives:

Next up was a layer of Spanish moss:

And finally a thin top layer of the rich green moss:

Put it all together, and what do you get!

Lots of layers or prettiness!

I ended up ‘planting’ a few more cactus varieties from our yard to add a little color, and I added a few rocks to the top after bringing these guys inside.

The smaller one was super simple – same as the above but just one votive of planted succulents.

I’ve been playing with styling these guys – maybe with a cloche? He’s holding on to a few left over clippings.

I think they look great in the dining room. The terrariums would be neat as a centerpiece for the table over a burlap runner and surrounded by simple white flowers for a dinner party. Oooo, I can see it now.

Again, the layering is what really makes these guys. Though some sort of tinted vase might be kind of neat as well.

I love that I had all of the supplies on hand, makes for a super easy weekend project!

I kind of have a thing for collecting and holding on to great vases and different filler decor. It all started with my wedding five years ago and has grown to help plenty of friends with their big day centerpieces (yes, that many vases. times three). So that little stash in my garage is actually a cabinet that really needs to be emptied out… one indoor terrarium at a time.

DIY Chevron Painter’s Tape Cloth Napkins

Here’s another little project that I finished up this week:

I was inspired to DIY my own cloth napkins after checking out these awesome gold chevron shelf liners (which I’m now dying to try out) that I came across on Pinterest. Aren’t they perty?

I thought something for the dining room table would be equally cool and considered placemats before finally settling on cloth napkins.

It’s all in an effort to finally start creating out of those great big pin boards I have over on Pinterest! And to participate in this challenge.

When it came to narrowing down which project to tackle this week I had a hard time choosing just one, so I actually attempted three that I plan on sharing with ya’ll – this being the first!

And I’m really thrilled with the results so far.

Update: I’ve now had a chance to wash these and I’m happy to report NO bleeding! but there is a slight bit of fading so next time I might try line drying. Perhaps fabric paint applied with a sponge would be more fade resistant.

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Chevron Painter’s Tape Cloth Napkins
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Materials: Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint (or fabric paint), cloth napkins (though you could use placemats or the like), painter’s tape, scissors

1. I began this project by marking off my chevron design with painter’s tape. I ended up eye balling the design making is a super simple process, though you could measure for more accuracy with a very light pencil mark to keep you on track (I would be nervous about pencil lines showing through the paint, so I’d recommend just little dots here and there if you opt for this route).

My drop cloth was also white so I apologize for the white-on-white effect, but you can see the thin edge of the napkin if you look really close. It was helpful to let the strips of the tape from the chevron design overlap onto the drop cloth to keep my napkin nice and taut for painting, too.

Here’s a close up of the painter’s tape application, you want to essentially be sure that the straight edge of the tape is in contact with the fabric with no ripped or squiggly lines.

Scissors were useful for cleaning up some of those edges where two strips of painter’s tape connected.

Another tip worth noting is that I found it really helpful to go over each line where the tape met the fabric to press down and really create a sealed off stick. You won’t want any gold bleeding through!

2. Next up was applying a thin coat of gold spray paint over the entire design (keeping the can about a foot above the napkin is the best way to create an even application without any drips – be sure that you’re spraying in wide, even motions too).

At this point in the process I was just really digging how the painter’s tape looked when spray painted – so shiny and bright! But alas a cloth napkin covered in shimmery tape would not be a useful napkin at all…

3. I let the paint dry for 20-30 minutes and then slowly began pulling up tape. It’s amazing how fast spray paint dries – no need to wait overnight which is always helpful in that instant gratification moment.

The Rust-Oleum website suggests not using a clear top coat on its metallic line so as not to dull the finish, but if you were using another paint color you could apply a final coat before pealing the tape.

I also attempted to research the ‘food safety’ of the Rust-Oleum metallic line of paint but without much luck – it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t use this cloth napkin as a lining in a bread basket and I’d definitely wipe my mouth with the other side . Same goes for babies, thankfully Liv’s not an everything-must-go-in-mouth kind of baby, but I won’t be giving her the opportunity to chew on these spray painted napkins either!

Here’s a little example of what happens if the edges of the strips of tape don’t meet just right at each intersection.

Other than a few hardly noticeable boo boos, we’re all done! So pretty.

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I’m really digging the results! I haven’t tried washing yet so TBD if there’s any bleeding involved.

This was a very fast, easy project with just three basic steps, it could easily be replicated for a BIG party without a problem (so, so fast!) and I think that a set of these would look just stunning at a shower or even small wedding. Would also make a neat gift for Mother’s Day or as a housewarming present! Sort of like when I stenciled my winter cloth napkins.

One Pinterest project down and two more to share with you this week!

PS My hallway wall is Finished! and I’m so so happy with how it all turned out – I’ll be sharing all of the details manana.